Heritage Oil has been awarded a further Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) in Tanzania and is the operator with 100% interest.

"We are delighted to have signed the Rukwa PSA which shares many geological similarities with the Albert Basin in Uganda where we have had previous success," said Tony Buckingham, Heritage CEO

"We established a new play fairway in East African rift basins with our exploration success in Uganda and believe this previous experience provides Heritage with a unique advantage in accessing the potential of this exciting new area."

Heritage has now licensed virtually the entire Rukwa Rift Basin split into two separate areas; Rukwa North Basin and Rukwa South Basin. These blocks cover areas of 10,175 square kilometres and 8,745 square kilometres respectively.

Limited exploration activity was undertaken in the blocks in the mid-1980s which resulted in the acquisition of c.2,300 kilometres of 2D seismic data and the drilling of two wells.

The historical gravity and seismic data highlight the potential in the Rukwa Rift Basin with over seven kilometres of sedimentary section in some places. Heritage recognises that the Rukwa Rift Basin shares certain similarities with the Albert Basin of Uganda, thereby providing the Company with a key advantage in assessing the blocks.

The work programme will commence shortly and Heritage has committed to acquire c.600 kilometres of new 2D seismic data and will also reprocess and reinterpret the legacy seismic database. The new seismic programme will focus on exploration plays in potentially prospective areas of the blocks not previously considered, covering structures that were poorly defined on the legacy data. Heritage will draw on its considerable operational experience of working in remote environments to drill any prospective targets it identifies.

In the event of an oil discovery, the Rukwa Rift Basin lies less than 100 kilometres from the railhead at Mbeya and economic scoping shows the commercial viability of either rail export to Dar es Salaam or export by pipeline depending on exploration success.